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Tuesday, 7 May 2013

I've been working on my novel, The Painting recently. Occasionally I stop writing to reach into the mountain of books I've collected for research. This turned out to be worthwhile the other day when I read about Capability Brown's lakes. My fictional country house now has a lake which I'm using to my advantage in a key scene. This may change at a later date, but for now the lake is staying. Another reason why I stop writing (apart from to go on Twitter, Facebook, to write a blog post etc...) is to work on the outline.

I have a spreadsheet in excel for the outline with a row for each scene. For my novel, The Grandson, I divided the scenes into three acts on the spreadsheet. Then I filled in key scenes and added other scenes around them as I wrote/ edited.

Whilst writing the first draft, I'm not worried about chapter numbers, as I may move scenes around. Subplot will appear in subsequent drafts once I've sorted out the main plot. Although if I have an idea for a subplot as I write, I make a note of it on the spreadsheet.

I highlight the rows for each point of view in the same colour. When editing The Grandson, I initially worked on scenes with the same point of view together to ensure that I didn't repeat myself and so that those scenes told their own story.

Creating this outline allows me to apply some logic to the 'mess' which is the first draft and I would be lost without it. When editing, I use the outline all of the time as a reference and to plan the next day's work.

Do you use outlines when writing?

I couldn't find a photo of a Capability Brown lake, but thought you might like this one of Lake Como from a few years ago.

Hope the sun is shining where you are. It's been lovely here recently and I'm finally wearing my sandals...

About Me

Writer and Freelance Social Media Manager with clients in the world of books. Used to work in the City, as manager to a structured derivatives documentation team. Studied French and Italian at university and lived in Siena, Italy. Writer of historical fiction set in 18thc Venice and English country houses. Short story, The Reminiscence Tea highly commended in Feb 2017 issue of Writers' Forum magazine. Associate Member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Former Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society (Aug 2014- 4 Sept 2016) and Publicity Officer for #HNSOxford16. Find out more via my website: www.neetsmarketing.com